Bill Patry has a characteristically thoughtful post on the consultation paper on copyright exceptions released yesterday in the UK. The document, titled “Taking Forward the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property: Proposed Changes to Copyright Exceptions,” was issued yesterday by the UK Intellectual Property Office, under the auspices of Lord Triesman, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Intellectual Property. Here’s a link to the source.
There is a great deal to digest here, not only from the point of view of the goals and purposes of copyright but also from the point of view of potential harmonization of US and UK rules.Â
Meanwhile, Bill doesn’t note a particularly charming detail: Lord Triesman is the Lord Minister for the the Department for Innovation, Universities, and Skills, which houses the UK Intellectual Property Office, among other things. A single government department responsible simultaneously for intellectual property policy and higher education policy? What a country.